The joker McLaren holds over Max Verstappen with vital Azerbaijan GP advantage

McLaren holds a major strategic advantage over the rest of the leading contenders for victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen was able to keep his head whilst all about him were losing theirs in the chaotic qualifying to land a sixth pole of the season - as McLaren will start seventh and ninth following Lando Norris's poor final lap and Oscar Piastri's crash. 

But heading into the 51-lap race, McLaren, which is expected to come through the field, holds a key advantage over Verstappen. 

Both Norris and Piastri have at their disposal a brand-new set of the C5 medium compound tyres, which have proven to be strong throughout the weekend, with some drivers even prefering them to the softer C6 tyre in qualifying. 

Pirelli's prediction for the race is a simple one-stop strategy with drivers either taking medium-hard or hard-medium. 

For the McLarens, this second strategy could prove more beneficial of running long on the hards and hoping for a safety car around the time of the Lap 29-35 pit-window, and swapping to their new set of mediums. 

Lewis Hamilton has two new sets of mediums as well, and as he didn't make Q3, also has a new set of C6 tyres available, but unless there is a restart with less than 10 laps to go, they are unlikely to be used.

Check out the full strategy prediction and tyre sets available below!